Electronic devices are ubiquitous in society and can be found in everything from wristwatches to computers. The complexity and sophistication of these electronic devices usually increases with each generation, and as a result, newer electronic devices often consume a greater amount of power than their predecessors. As the power consumption increases, the circuitry within the electronic device may generate increasing levels of heat, which may be detrimental to the operation of the circuitry.
To exacerbate this problem, the trend in modern electronic devices is to make each generation smaller. As a result, the temperature per unit volume coming from successive generations of electronic devices may rise to levels that are potentially hazardous to the user or the device itself. For this reason, microprocessors and other circuitry may be equipped with a heat sink and/or a fan to transfer heat away from the die and keep the microprocessor within safe operational ranges. Additional thermal management techniques also may be implemented such as selectively shutting down especially power-consumptive elements of an electronic device.
In addition to having increased power consumption, many modern electronic devices also have greater graphics abilities than their predecessors. This is especially true of personal computers where users may employ multiple monitors per computer, each of which may be capable of rendering complex computer graphic images. However, many modern computers' thermal management techniques may hinder the computer system's ability to provide sophisticated graphics abilities. For example, when the microprocessor enters low power modes one or more screen glitches may be present because the processor is not executing instructions. This may be especially true in computer systems with multiple displays and/or computer systems that are playing a movie.
Accordingly, there is a need for providing thermal management to computer systems that prevents screen glitches.